We just moved into a house and it appears somebody butchered the crape myrtles by topping them last winter. How do we train them to restore their good shape?
This answer may surprise you, but the fastest way of getting an attractive plant back is simply to cut all the trunks completely to the ground, then manage the new shoots that come back. You will have your choice of dozens of new trunks. Select those few that are most vigorous and most appropriately placed, then remove all the others. Because all of the plants’ roots will be supporting the small amount of top growth initially, the new shoots will force out in a hurry. You will probably have attractive plants that same year. You certainly will by the second year. If you were to opt to try to re-form the plants by pruning the old, stubby shoots, it might take you 10 or 15 years to get them to grow out of it.
